Parshas ChukasZu L'Umus ZuBy Rabbi Pinchas Winston

FRIDAY NIGHT:

The entire nation of Israel reached the Tzin desert in the first
month. The people camped in Kadesh, and that is where Miriam died and was
buried. There was no water for the people, and they gathered against Moshe
and Aharon. (Bamidbar 20:1-2)

Another one of those Torah ironies is about to occur. We are told that the
well that followed the Jewish people in the desert for 40 years and that
supplied all the water needs of the nation had been in Miriam's
merit. Hence, its name" B'e'er Miriam - the Well of Miriam.

What had Miriam done to be the source of this great miracle and fountain of
life? The Midrash explains that it was Miriam who had watched baby Moshe
after he had been placed in his basket and in the Nile river to avoid being
killed by the Egyptians. She looked out for him, to make sure no harm
would come to Moshe, who she knew would be the future redeemer of the
Jewish people.

After all, Miriam had been a prophetess, even at the tender age of 7
(Shemos 15:20, Seder Olam 3). It was Miriam who had advised her father to
re-marry her mother in order to have more children, from which Moshe was
born (Sotah 12a). "Pharaoh only decreed against males," she told her
father, the leader of the generation, "while you have decreed against the
females as well by not having any children at all."

Upon hearing her rationale, Amram her father kissed her on the
head. However, says the Talmud, when they were forced to put Moshe into
the river to save his life, Amram tapped her on the head and questioned her
advice. Undaunted, she stayed with her opinion and went to the Nile river
to see what G-d had in mind for the future redeemer.

Thus, for her concern on behalf of her people, she was blessed with being
the merit for the water that "redeemed" that same people in the desert from
death. And, as Rashi points out in this week's parshah, the well stopped
producing its water just to make sure that everyone knew that the water had
been on her behalf.

Here comes the irony.

Because the water dried up on Miriam's behalf, Moshe was forced to make it
reappear in his own merit, which eventually he did. However, not until
doing so led to the Divine decree against him to die in the desert, sealing
his fate not to be the final redeemer of Israel, at least at that time in
history.

It had been Miriam that led to the life of the future redeemer of Israel,
and it was Miriam's death that led to his demise.

Not only that, but the whole point of the story of Miriam is the idea of
seeing past the obvious and realizing the Hashgochah Pratis that lies
behind the event. Her father had held off having children after Pharaoh
decreed to kill the newly born Jewish males. Miriam recognized that her
father was denying the Jewish people their future redeemer.

When they were forced to abandon Moshe to the Nile river, Amram saw it as a
disaster and regretted having given birth to another child. Miriam, on the
other hand, saw it as a curious progression on the path of making a
savior. Not bad for a girl whose very name was a statement about the
bitter (mar) exile!

Thus, Be'er Miriam had been more than just a fountain of sustaining water;
it had been a symbol of G-d's ongoing protection of the Jewish people. It
represented the silver lining inside every gray cloud of Jewish
history. If so, how could it be the very vehicle to do Moshe in, who hit
the rock specifically because he misunderstood the Divine Providence of the
situation?

SHABBOS DAY:

Who is wise and will understand these things; [who is] understanding and
will know them? For the ways of G-d are straight; the righteous walk in
them and sinners will stumble over them. (Hoshea 14:10)

The book of Hoshea is one of the shortest in Tanach. However, it also
contains tremendous insights, many of which are very Kabbalistic in
nature. But, perhaps its most profound insight is its parting words, just
quoted.

If you contemplate the final posuk, you might wonder why it is. For, we
tend to think of life as being composed of two paths, and one that leads to
good and one that leads to evil. The righteous people are always those who
walk the good path, whereas the evil people are those who walk the path to
evil.

No, says the prophet. Life is but ONE path only, walked by righteous and
evil alike. However, something very curious happens when one walks
it: depending upon one's character traits, the path can either allow a
person to proceed in life, or cause him to stumble. One path, two possible
outcomes.

The Kabbalistic term for this idea is "zu l'umas zu" - which corresponds
to this. According to Kabbalah, when G-d made creation, this was a major
operation principle, and therefore for everything in creation that is good,
there is something evil. And, if it can be very good, then it can also be
very evil.

In fact, I heard this idea used to answer a question from Parashas Shlach,
when the spies came back with the huge cluster of grapes. According to
Rabbi Moshe Shapiro, shlita, the point of bringing back such wondrous fruit
was to support the spies' argument, not to knock it down; they were meant
to scare the people, not to impress them.

What was their point? It was to say, "Look how wondrous the land is! Look
at the type of fruit it can produce! It must be an exceedingly holy place
if it can produce such miraculous fruit, and therefore living there must
have the potential to make a person quite holy. However," and this was the
point the spies' had built towards, "as we all know, if something has the
potential to be the source of such tremendous growth, it can also be the
source of tremendous downfall. And, with tremendous downfall comes
tremendous Divine retribution! Let's stay in the desert where it is
spiritually safe. We may not grow the same amount out here, but at least
we can't fall to the same depths as we can in Eretz Yisroel!"

According to Rabbi Shapiro, even Moshe Rabbeinu had a tough time accepting
the idea that something so holy could end up being something so
impure. Where did we see this? Here:

Moshe complained, "They will not believe me, or listen to me. They will
say 'G-d did not appear to you.' " G-d asked him, "What is that in your
hand?" He answered, "A staff." He said, "Throw it to the ground," and
[Moshe] threw it to the ground. It became a serpent, and Moshe ran away
from it. (Shemos 4:1-3)

Asked Rabbi Shapiro: Why did Moshe run away from the serpent? Surely
someone as great as Moshe Rabbeinu wasn't afraid of a snake, especially in
the presence of G-d. Indeed, Rebi Chanina ben Dosa even put his foot over
the opening of a snake hole allowing it to bite him, saying, "It is not
snakes that kill, but sin that kills" (Brochos 33a).

Rabbi Shapiro explained that what disturbed Moshe was not the actual snake
itself, but that his staff - which had the Ineffable Name of G-d written on
it, and with which he had performed so many miracles and had constantly
sanctified the Name of G-d - could become such a symbol of extreme
impurity! THAT scared Moshe Rabbeinu.

That is also what scared off the spies and those who fell for their
words. However, as G-d told them, by rejecting Eretz Yisroel and the
system of "zu l'umas zu, they were in fact rejecting G-d Himself, for to
not grow is to descend; there is no such thing as "maintaining the status
quo" when it comes to the growth of a Jew. You are either going up or
going down, and to not go up as quickly as you can, is to go down.

SEUDAH SHLISHIS:

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was in the center of the
garden. (Bereishis 2:9)

This helps to explain the punishment of the generation of the spies, who
had to wander an additional 39 years before entering Eretz Yisroel. But
for accepting loshon hara? Doesn't G-d punish measure-for-measure? Where
is the measure-for-measure in a punishment of 40 years of wandering for
one-half hour of accepting loshon hara?

The answer is, that wasn't the punishment for the loshon hara. This was
the punishment for the loshon hara:

As for the men whom Moshe sent to search the land, who re-turned and made
all the congregation complain because of their evil report of the land,
they died by a plague from G-d. (Bamidbar 14:36-37)

BY A PLAGUE: By that death which was fitting for them -
measure-for-measure. They had sinned with their tongue, therefore their
tongue grew long to their navels, and worms came from their tongue and
entered their navels. (Rashi)

If so, then for what did the nation suffer "one year for each day" of
spying the land. Measure-for-measure, for each day of rejecting the Land
of Israel, the Land of Israel will reject you for one year. For each day
that you feared the growth process that brings you closer to Me, for 40
years I will ignore you in the desert, which G-d did until the last of that
generation that sinned had died. Then prophecy returned to Moshe once again.

It's like the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. There were not TWO
trees, one that was good and one that was evil. That would make their good
or evil intrinsic to their very being. Rather, there was only ONE tree
that could be used for both, either good or evil.

What was the determining factor that decided the outcome for the tree with
two potentials? Adam's free-will, for good or evil is not a term that is
used to evaluate the inanimate world, but the term that is exclusively used
to evaluate the moral value of a free-will choice, for the following reason:

The Holy One, Blessed is He, gave a portion of His glory to
flesh-and-blood, to make him a partner with Him in creation . . . And, just
as The Holy One, Blessed is He, created everything according to His will
and without being compelled, G-d forbid, likewise He gave this possibility
to man as well, by allowing him to act and perform according to his own
will. This was accomplished through the creation of good and evil. For
had The Holy One, Blessed be He, created only good, man would be compelled
to act [in a good way only], and there would be no purpose for any of the
abilities that were given to him . . . (Sha'arei Leshem, page 76)

The Ramchal adds:

As we have discussed, man is the creature created for the purpose of being
drawn close to God. He is placed between perfection and deficiency, with
the power to earn perfection. Man must earn this perfection, however,
through his own free will and desire. If he were compelled to choose
perfection, then he would not actually be its master, and God's purpose
would not be fulfilled. It was therefore necessary that man be created
with free will. Man's inclinations are therefore balanced between good and
evil, and he is not compelled toward either of them. He has the power of
choice, and is able to choose either side, knowingly and willingly, as well
as to possess whichever one he wishes. Man was therefore created with both
a Good Urge (Yetzer Tov) and an Evil Urge (Yetzer Hara). He has the power
to incline himself in whichever direction he desires. (Derech Hashem, 1:3:1)

Therefore, the physical world was made neutral, left for man to determine
how it would be used. One world, two possibilities, and man is the one to
determine whether or not he walks that path, or stumbles it in. But, try
it he must, for that is what he was created to do.

MELAVE MALKAH:

Moshe and Aharon assembled the congregation before the rock, and he said to
them, "Listen you rebels! Should we bring forth water from this
rock?!" (Bamidbar 20:10)

Many questions arise from the pshat of the account of Moshe's hitting the
rock, especially since Moshe had done all he had been told from the
outset. According to the Midrash, Moshe had first spoken to the rock as
directed by G-d, but it had refused to bring forth water.

According to Sod, the problem had been Moshe's anger. Why did Moshe get so
angry? Because, He had seen the Divine Presence ascend and leave the rock
that had been Be'er Miriam, usually a sign of Divine displeasure. What
could Moshe assume other than G-d was furious with the Jewish people who
seemed to always find a pretext to complain?

That had not been the case. Apparently, the Divine Presence had the left
the rock, but only to let Moshe Rabbeinu himself choose which rock from
which water should come. Once Moshe had chosen the rock, then G-d would
have returned to that rock and water would have flowed anew, a great
sanctification of G-d's Name, and a beautiful way to show the Jewish people
how much G-d wants to do their will.

As the Midrash explains, G-d told Moshe, "When you get angry, they think I
am angry, which is not the case. You misrepresented Me, and of that you
have to suffer the consequences!"

One situation, two possible outcomes, and Moshe stumbled.

Amazingly, the words "hamin hasela" - from this rock - have the exact
same gematria as the words, "hamin ha'aitz" - from this tree (Bereishis
3:9) - that G-d addressed of Adam after he ate from the Tree of Knowledge
of Good and Evil. This hints to the similarity of the lesson that each
teaches.

And, what does G-d tell Moshe? He says:

Since you did not believe in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the Children
of Israel, therefore you will not bring this assembly into the land which I
have give them. (Bamidbar 12)

To whom were these words spoken? They were spoken to Moshe and Aharon, but
they could have just as easily been spoken to the spies, because it was the
same scenario all over again. However, before we go and blame Moshe and
Aharon for this catastrophic result, we must consider the following:

[General Vespasian] answered him, "You are now deserving of death
twice. Firstly, I am not the king and yet you have called me
king. Secondly, if I am the king, why did you not come to me earlier?" He
answered, "I called you king because one day you will be, for, if you
weren't a king then Jerusalem would not have been given over to you, as it
says, 'And the Levanon will fall by a mighty (adir)' (Yeshayahu
10:34). Now, 'mighty' (adir) refers to a king, as it says, 'And the leader
(adir) shall be of themselves' (Yirmiyahu 30:21). 'Levanon' refers to the
Temple, as it says, 'This goodly mountain and the Levanon' (Devarim
3:25). As to your question, that if you were a king why did I not come to
you earlier, it was because the rebels among us prevented me from
leaving." However, Vespasian responded, "If there is a barrel full of
honey and a serpent is around it, is it not proper to break the barrel
because of the serpent?" Rabbi Yochanan could not answer. Rav Yosef, and
others say Rebi Akiva, applied the following posuk to him, "Who makes wise
men retreat and makes their knowledge foolish" (Yeshayahu 44:25). [For,
Rebi Yochanan] should have answered, "It is better to take tongs and remove
the serpent from the barrel and kill it, and leave the barrel
intact." (Gittin 56a)

A troubling tract of Talmud, one that can easily be abused and thrown into
question, G-d forbid, the authority of Torah leaders. Is not Emunas
Chachamim - faith in Torah leaders - based upon our belief that God is with
them, assisting our Torah leaders in their decision-making for the best of
the Jewish people? How could God have denied Rebi Yochanan such an
important answer at such a crucial moment, and how often does this happen
in Jewish history?

The Maharshah explains:

In other words, the sin of the people of the city was the cause for The
Holy One, Blessed is He, to "make wise men retreat," denying them the
knowledge to answer. (Maharshah, q.v. Who makes wise men retreat)

In other words, explains the Maharshah, Rabbi Yochanan's silence was not
due to any shortcoming of his own. Rather, his inability to answer
correctly at that moment was the result of the people he had left
behind. Indeed, from elsewhere we see that a Torah leader's Heavenly help
is a direct function of the people they lead:

"God told Moshe: Go down" (Shemos 32:7); what does "go down" mean? Rebi
Elazar said, "The Holy One, Blessed is He, told Moshe, 'Descend from your
[level of] greatness, for I have given you greatness only for the sake of
Israel, and now Israel has sinned.' Immediately, Moshe became weak and he
lost the strength to speak." (Brochos 32a)

Why didn't the people get angry at the spies, and stop them from speaking
instead? Had they really wanted to enter Eretz Yisroel and trusted in G-d,
would they not have seen the spies as blasphemers?

Likewise, why did Moshe fail to see the true reality of the situation, and
instead err by the rock? After all, as the Talmud says, if G-d looks out
for the animals of the righteous, how much more must He spare the righteous
from making unwitting mistakes?

That is, unless the people themselves are looking for a pretext to not
succeed. Thus, it turns out, that not only can someone like Moshe Rabbeinu
"stumble" along the path of G-d, but He - and all leaders for that matter -
can do so as a result of the nation's own ability to walk G-d's straight
and narrow.